towards a transparent and corruption free education system

Posts Tagged ‘Durgapur’

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, One of the premier institutions of the country set up in 1965 with a great vision to promote a healthy academic and cultural environment. The motto of this institute:”udhyog purushasya lakshanam” is facing an identity crisis not just at the hands of the administration but also by the students.

As in many other colleges, this college too has an elected student body, Student Gymkhana. The gymkhana primarily comprises of:

President

Vice-President

General Secretary (Signatory)

Asst General Secretary (Cultural)

Asst General Secretary (Sports)

The gymkhana acts as a bridge between the administration and the students. Any student-related activity in the college is supervised or assisted by the gymkhana. Further, it is the sole body which conducts the national level cultural fest, Recstacy, of the college.

Now, the question arises. To whom is this student gymkhana answerable to? The Administration? The students?

As it so happens, all dealings regarding this body are vague. Nothing is transparent. Nothing seems to be accounted for by the administration. It is a body completely managed by the students. And, as in any other body with ample paisa and power, this one too is wrought with corruption. The lamentable part is that corruption over here is at the hands of the future citizens, the youth and not some grubby slimy politician.

Whatever has been stated above is not just hearsay. It is backed by tangible evidence. When we filed an RTI demanding the bills of the cultural fest Recstacy 2011, we were amazed and shocked at the four-lined laid back reply.

The authorities had clearly mentioned that they do not have any accounts of the expenditure incurred during the fest and that it managed solely by the students.

Further, there is reason to believe that the previous gymkhana body has made a “Profit” of lakhs just from the one fest. The gymkhana had also been allotted lakhs to organize Fresher’s party on behalf of the college for the first year B.Tech and PG students last year. Suspiciously, the event never took place. What was even more suspicious was the fact that some members of the student body were spotted flaunting flashy new bikes. They were also spotted scooting off to tourist destinations and indulging in various pleasures disproportionate to a student’s budget.

Moreover even the budgets of all the clubs and other student related activities are finalized by Student’s Gymkhana. So there is no knowing what goes on behind the scenes during the process of fund-allotment. There is no fool-proof and established system to keep a tab on the activities. And this is not it. The Gymkhana is known to have demanded a certain sum of money from the various clubs to ensure the smooth functioning of their fests and other activities. And when the clubs refused, they were denied many basic necessities for carrying out their events(as stated by some students of NIT Durgapur).

This was just the story of Student Gymkhana. In addition to it, the college has 14 clubs. All of these clubs are allotted funds at the start of each academic year proportional to its scale of activities. At the end of each year, how much of these funds have been effectively utilized and how much has vanished into thin air is another burning question. Plus, there are 10 hostels in the campus, each of which has a hall-secretary and a few mess-secretaries. Even they have the power to acquire funds from the college to take up some restorative activities in the hostel. These funds too are unaccounted for.

The objective of the article is not to crucify the wrong-doers (who in this case are the ‘Yuva’) but to make them answerable. The future of these students is invaluable. It can not be jeopardized by an inefficient and opaque system which has become something of a heirloom passed on from one batch to the next. The minds of these youngsters can not and must not be corrupted at such a precious age and such a precious institution. If there is no conscience, there should at least rise a fear in the minds of the students that they are accountable to someone. They are answerable to someone. There is a law which is not some silly college rule and is not meant to be broken, but to be respected, feared and abided by! What we want is to clean up this slime, finish off the pests at the roots before it manifests itself into that venomous monster crippling the entire system of the country. What we want is what the entire nation wanted when one man Anna Hazare spoke up.What we want is justice. What we want is a new and shining India!